HOUSTON, May 7 (Reuters) - Nigeria could produce 6

million barrels of oil per day with adequate investment in its

energy sector, the nation's oil minister said on Tuesday.

Nigeria is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum

Exporting Countries (OPEC) but its oil production has declined

to just over 1.3 million barrels per day. Oil major Shell

exited the country.

Nigeria and other African oil-producing countries lack the

capital to explore and produce their oil and gas, said oil

minister Heineken Lokpobiri at the Offshore Technology

Conference (OTC) in Houston.

African nations must give priority to producing their own

oil and gas reserves, he said, accusing Western countries of

using access to capital as a means of compelling African

countries not to explore for oil and gas resources.

But another executive on the panel said money is not the

main problem. Corruption leadership and discipline is the real

problem facing Africa, said Kosmos Energy ( KOS ) Senior Vice

President Joe Mensah, who also spoke at the conference.

"Corruption. That's what's killing us. There is plenty of

money on the continent today, you do not need to go outside of

the continent to find money to do work," Mensah said.

Lokpobiri also pointed to cash being available for energy

transition over fossil fuels. Africa needs to address the lack

of oil and gas before its can talk about transiting to clean

fuels, he said.

The COP Climate Summit's pledges of funding to mitigate

warming "will never come," he told attendees. "Right now we do

not have energy to transform to anything," Lokpobiri said.

The U.S. is the largest oil and gas producer in the world,

but is asking Africa to stop exploring and producing oil, the

minister said.